Did Natwar Singh just cut off his nose to spite Sonia's face?

K Natwar Singh is crooning Elton John these days.

But it’s no sacrifice No sacrifice It’s no sacrifice at all.

His forthcoming book’s big juicy expose alleges that the famous inner voice that pushed Sonia Gandhi to offer the prime ministership to Manmohan Singh in 2004 actually belonged to Rahul. Natwar Singh claims Rahul feared Sonia would be killed like his father and gave her 24 hours to turn down the post. Natwar Singh’s book is not out yet. So we don’t know what else is in it. But if this is the most explosive revelation it can offer, this “book bomb” sounds like a damp squib. [caption id=“attachment_1643125” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Congress leader Natwar Singh in a file photo. Ibnlive[/caption] Honestly, this is probably the kindest thing anyone has said about Rahul Gandhi in a long long time. He is a good son. He loved his mother and didn’t want to lose her. Natwar Singh could well be right. But his revelation in 2014 about what might have gone down in 2004 is too little too late for four reasons. Yesterday Once More The Congress is decimated, humiliated and eviscerated. It’s reduced to 44 seats in Parliament and while the party’s sycophants might come up with many reasons for that, in the public’s eye the Sonia-Rahul leadership cannot dodge the blame. Her image is well and truly battered, perhaps irredeemably so. Given her health problems, it’s hard to see her as anything more than a lame duck president right now. At this point it hardly matters whether she turned down the PM post ten years ago because of her “inner voice” or because she could not rebuff her son’s plea. The net result would have been the same for India — Manmohan Singh as prime minister. Whatever currency that “sacrifice” had is long past its expiration date. Elections 2014 proved to the Congress that its sacrifice account was long overdrawn and it would have to be an exceptionally stupid party to go to the polls anytime in the future still trying to cash in on the Sonia sacrifice of 2004. Singh claims Sonia and Priyanka met him in May begging him to not include this story. That’s hardly surprising for a family as image-conscious as the Gandhis. But while he clearly revels in their attention it does not mean the public cares any more about water that’s long under the bridge. Mother’s Little Helper There is nothing criminal or even unethical about Sonia turning down a post because of her son’s fears about her safety. It’s not like Natwar Singh is alleging Sonia refused the post because she was afraid Quatrochhi skeletons would come tumbling out her closet if there was too much scrutiny. Now that would have been a real bomb. This is Nirupa Roy territory rather than Deepthroat. The National Herald case has more damaging implications for Sonia-Rahul than this three-hanky mother-son story. Sonia had reportedly tried her damndest to prevent Rajiv from joining politics. In the book Decoding Rahul Gandhi by Aarthi Ramachandran, PC Alexander describes how a weeping Sonia begged Rajiv not to accept the post of prime minister even as his mother’s bullet-ridden dead body lay in the hospital. “I begged him not to let them do this,” Sonia recalled in the book Rajiv. “I pleaded with him, with others around him. He would be killed as well.” And in the end, he was. So it’s hardly surprisingly Rahul put his foot down. Even Natwar Singh gives him “full marks” as a son. And Singh himself admits he does not know whether left to herself Sonia would have become PM. “It is difficult to answer,” he says .Make that impossible to answer. So what’s the point? In 1984 Rajiv too could have turned down the post. He could have said Pranab Mukherjee as the most experienced senior minister deserved it and we would have never known whether that was the real reason or Sonia’s tears or both. Devil Woman Natwar Singh is not just trying to puncture the hallowed sacrifice story. He tells us what Sanjaya Baru already revealed and the public had long assumed — Sonia Gandhi pulled the UPA’s strings from behind the scenes. Among other “revelations” in the upcoming memoir Singh apparently calls Sonia Gandhi “Machiavellian” a “prime donna” and an ambitious capricious woman. That name-calling is hardly new or news. In fact, it’s an underhand compliment. There’s hardly a powerful politician in India today who is not called some version of that. Narendra Modi: Messiah or Machiavelli goes this story in DNA . Jayalalithaa is called the “AIADMK prima donna” in this Times of India blog. NDTV calls Mamata Banerjee “one of India’s most capricious politicians.” As far as name-calling goes, Natwar Singh really needs to up his game. Tavleen Durbar Singh might be able to give him a few pointers there. Sounds of Silence Natwar Singh is an estranged Congressman who had to resign after the Iraqi oil-for-food scam. He has reason to be bitter with the party. His son is now a BJP MLA from Rajasthan. Hell hath no fury like a self-important man scorned. He denies this is bile talking but claims “it is important to tell the facts as you know them”. But really the facts as we see them right now amount to only this. Natwar Singh might have been an eyewitness to what he considered a hypocritical charade about an “inner voice” in 2004 but it did not prevent him from joining that same UPA 1 government as the External Affairs Minister. At that time when he was part of the charmed inner circle it was clearly NOT that “important to tell the facts as you know them.” Through all the long years of UPA 1 and UPA 2 when Sonia Gandhi was truly the “most important politician in India” Singh bit his tongue and kept quiet. Now that she is safely out of power, he has decided to become the fearless crusader for truth. This sounds more opportunistic than courageous. He can say Sonia can neither run nor hide but Singh was very firmly and very quietly hiding all this while biding his time. If this shows Sonia Gandhi in a poor light, it is hardly flattering to Natwar Singh. Actually the Gandhis could sing Elton John right back at Natwar Singh:

Cold cold heart Hard done by you Some things look better baby Just passing through.